The Agrianes (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Ἀγρίανες, ''Agrianes'' or Ἀγρίαι ''Agriai'') or Agrianians, were a tribe whose country was centered at Upper Strymon, in present-day central Western Bulgaria as well as southeasternmost Serbia, at the time situated north of the

Dentheletae The Dentheletae ( el, Δενθελῆται), also Danthaletae (Δανθαλῆται) or Denseletae, were a Thracian tribe that in antiquity lived near the sources of the River Strymon, and are mentioned in texts by Polybius, Cassius Dio, Tacit ...

. Per

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

the source of the river Strymon was within Agrianes' territory. In the times of

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

, the territory of the Agrianes was administered by

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

. They were crack

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

throwers and an elite unit of Alexander the Great's

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

, who fought under the command of General Attalus.

Etymology and tribal belonging

Their name in

was Ἀγρίανες. The ethnonym is of Indo-European origin, it may have been derived from *''agro''- "field" (cf. Lat. ''ager'', Grc. ἀγρός ''agros'', Eng.

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

). Irwin L. Merker considers it purely Hellenic, and lists certain

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

cognates such as the ethnonym of the

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

tribe Agraioi in

Aetolia Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional units of Greece, regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous ...

and the month Agrianos, which is found throughout the Dorian and Aeolian worlds. An early name of the

Rhodopes The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

was Achrida, which may also be a cognate.

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

described that Paeon, the

eponymous ancestor An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have stor ...

of the

Paionians Paeonians were an ancient Indo-European people that dwelt in Paeonia (kingdom), Paeonia. Paeonia was an old country whose location was to the north of Ancient Macedonia, to the south of Dardania (Roman province), Dardania, to the west of Thrace a ...

(of whom Agrianes were members), was a brother of

Epeius There were two characters named Epeius (; Ancient Greek: Ἐπειός ''Epeiós'') or Epeus in Greek mythology. * Epeius, an Elean prince as son of King Endymion. He ran a race at Olympia, against his brothers Aetolus and Paeon, winning his fath ...

and

Aetolus Aetolus (; Ancient Greek: Αἰτωλός ''Aitolos'') was, in Greek mythology, a son of Endymion, great-great-grandson of Deucalion, and a Naiad nymph (Neis), or Iphianassa. Family According to Pausanias, Aetolus' mother was called Asterodia, ...

, the eponymous ancestors of the Epeians of Elis and the Aetolians respectively. Their place-name has several cognates in Greece such as ''Παιονίδαι (Paeonidai)'', a

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

of the tribe Leontis in

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

. A place in the Argolid also has the same name.

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

described them as a Paeonian tribe, together with the

Odomanti Odomanti or Odomantes ( grc, Ὀδόμαντες) were an ancient tribe. Some regard it as Paeonian, while others claim, that the tribe was with certainty Thracian. The Odomanti are noted by Herodotus, Thucydides, Stephanus of Byzantium and Pliny ...

and Doberes in the vicinity of

Pangaeum The Pangaion Hills (; ; Homeric Greek: Nysa; also called Pangaeon, Pangaeum) are a mountain range in Greece, approximately 40 km from Kavala. The highest elevation is 1,956 m at the peak of Koutra. The Aegean Sea lies to the south and ...

. Although the Agrianes, clearly fell within the Thracian sphere of influence, the only writer who describes them as

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. ...

Theopompus Theopompus ( grc-gre, Θεόπομπος, ''Theópompos''; c. 380 BCc. 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician. Biography Theopompus was born on the Aegean island of Chios. In early youth, he seems to have spent some time at Athen ...

Geography

Their country was centered at Upper Strymon, in present-day westernmost Bulgaria, and also held areas of southeasternmost

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, at the time situated north of the

. In the times of Philip II, the territory of the Agrianes was administered by Pella. According to some Bulgarian researchers they inhabited an ethnocultural region known today as "Graovo", whose name probably derives from that of the Agrianes. Its location is in the central and eastern areas of modern-day

Pernik Province Pernik Province is a province in western Bulgaria, neighbouring Serbia. Its main city is Pernik, and other municipalities are Breznik, Kovachevtsi, Radomir, Tran, and Zemen. Population Pernik province had a population of 133,750 according ...

Military

The

peltast A ''peltast'' ( grc-gre, πελταστής ) was a type of light infantryman, originating in Thrace and Paeonia, and named after the kind of shield he carried. Thucydides mentions the Thracian peltasts, while Xenophon in the Anabasis disting ...

s raised from the Agrianes were the elite light infantry of the Macedonian army. They were often used to cover the right flank of the army in battle, being posted to the right of the

Companion cavalry The Companions ( el, , ''hetairoi'') were the elite cavalry of the Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon, achieving their greatest prestige under Alexander the Great, and regarded as the first or among the first shock cava ...

, a position of considerable honour. They were almost invariably part of any force on detached duty, especially missions requiring speed of movement. Peltasts were armed with a number of javelins and a sword, carried a light shield but wore no armour, though they sometimes had helmets; they were adept at skirmishing and were often used to guard the flanks of more heavily equipped infantry. They usually adopted an open order when facing enemy heavy infantry. They could throw their javelins at will at the enemy and, unencumbered by armour or heavy shields, easily evade any counter-charges made by heavily equipped

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Polis, city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with ...

s. They were, however, quite vulnerable to shock-capable cavalry and often operated to particular advantage on broken ground where cavalry was useless and heavy infantry found it difficult to maintain formation.

History

They are first mentioned regarding

Megabazus Megabazus (Old Persian: ''Bagavazdā'' or ''Bagabāzu'', grc, Μεγαβάζος), son of Megabates, was a highly regarded Persian general under Darius, to whom he was a first-degree cousin. Most of the information about Megabazus comes from ' ...

' campaign in 511 BC. In 429 BC they were subject to the

Odrysian kingdom The Odrysian Kingdom (; Ancient Greek: ) was a state grouping many Thracian tribes united by the Odrysae, which arose in the early 5th century BC and existed at least until the late 1st century BC. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria and ...

and later, as early as 352 BC, they became allies of

Philip II of Macedonia Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the a ...

. They fought under king

Langarus Langarus ( el, Λάγγαρος; died 335 BC), king of the Agrianians, was a contemporary of Alexander the Great (336–323 BC), with whom he ingratiated himself even before the death of Philip II, previous king of Macedon. Langarus rendered A ...

with the Macedonians against the Triballians in 335 BC and succeeded in protecting the lands of Alexander and were thus rewarded with the right to govern themselves, a move that led to a long-lasting and most reliable alliance. At the

Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Gaugamela (; grc, Γαυγάμηλα, translit=Gaugámela), also called the Battle of Arbela ( grc, Ἄρβηλα, translit=Árbela), took place in 331 BC between the forces of the Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great a ...

(331 BC), during Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia, their contingent of peltasts numbered 1,000 men. During the time of the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

, a

crack unit Shock troops or assault troops are formations created to lead an attack. They are often better trained and equipped than other infantry, and expected to take heavy casualties even in successful operations. "Shock troop" is a calque, a loose tra ...

of Antiochus' Agrianes was brigaded together with

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

at Raphia. Contingents from the Agrianes and the Penestae, numbering 800 and 2,000 men respectively, were a part of the garrison of

Cassandreia Cassandreia, Cassandrea, or Kassandreia ( grc, Κασσάνδρεια, ''Kassándreia'') was once one of the most important cities in Ancient Macedonia, founded by and named after Cassander in 316 BC. It was located on the site of the earlier Anc ...

at the time of the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman f ...

References

Bibliography

*Ashley, J.R. (2004) ''The Macedonian Empire: The Era of Warfare Under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359-323 B.C.'' McFarland. *Connolly, P. (1981) ''Greece and Rome at War.'' Macdonald Phoebus, London. *Sidnell, P. (2006) ''Warhorse: Cavalry in Ancient Warfare'', Continuum, London. *Viktorija Sokolovska, Pajonskoto Pleme Agrijani i vrskite so Damastion, Macedonia acta Archaeologica 11, Skopje 1990, 9-34. (with summary in French). *Viktorija Sokolovska, The Coinage of Agrianes, MACEDONIAN NUMISMATIC JOURNAL no. 2, Skopje 1996, 13-22. *Viktorija Sokolovska, Materijalna kultura Agrijana, Patrimonium Mk no. 16, Skopje 2018, 79-102.

External links

Ancientbattles.com - Agrianians
{{Paionians Paeonia (kingdom) Ancient tribes in Serbia Ancient tribes in Bulgaria Ancient tribes in Macedonia Military personnel of Alexander the Great Paeonian tribes